My internet is slower than I expected. Why?

On an unlimited plan, the usual reason is the daily full-speed amount. Once a day passes it, the connection carries on at the slower speed printed on that plan until the next day begins, when full speed returns.

The other reasons are local: coverage where you are standing, the time of day, and how busy the network is. We buy access to local networks and cannot make them faster than they are.

Check which network the phone is on, and try picking another by hand. A different operator in the same place can be a different experience.

Related questions

What happens after my daily full-speed data is used?

The connection keeps working, at the reduced speed printed on that plan, for the rest of that day. Nothing stops and nothing is charged.

At the start of the next day of the plan, full speed comes back on its own. You do nothing.

The reduced speed is enough for messaging, maps and browsing. Video at that point depends on the plan: the faster continued speeds handle it, the slower ones will struggle.

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How do I choose a network by hand?

iPhone: Settings → Cellular → the travel line → Network Selection → turn Automatic off, then pick a network from the list.

Android: the SIM’s settings hold the same choice, usually as "Choose network automatically" with a list underneath.

Try the operators your plan lists for that destination. The plan page names the networks it uses where the network publishes them.

Switch Automatic back on when you move to another city or another country, or the phone will keep hunting for a network that is not there.

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Will I get 5G?

Where the plan, the local network and your phone all support it. Each plan states the fastest network technology it can use at that destination.

Your phone has to support 5G on that band, and the place you are standing has to have 5G coverage. Both are outside what we control.

A plan that can only reach 4G at a destination says so before you pay, rather than after.

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What does unlimited data mean on your plans?

There is no total allowance to run out. Data keeps working for every day of the plan, and you are never cut off and never asked for more money.

Each day includes an amount that runs at full speed. Once a day passes that amount, the connection carries on at the slower speed the plan states, until the next day begins and full speed returns.

Both numbers are printed on every plan before you pay: how much runs at full speed each day, and what speed it continues at. We do not hide either in a fair-use footnote.

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